Former President Donald Trump is on a mission to rid the party of some of his most fervent opponents at the state and federal levels.
“UPTON QUITS! 4 down and 6 to go. Others losing badly, who’s next?” Trump said in a statement, referring to Representative Fred Upton (R-MI-04).
Upton voted to impeach Trump after the January 6 riot at the Capitol. He was one of 10 Republicans to do so. Trump was referring to his impeachers, noting that four of them are not seeking re-election.
“Even the best stories have a last chapter. This is it for me,” Upton said Tuesday on the House floor.
He appeared to take a jab at Trump on his way out the door.
“Reagan worked both sides of the aisle to get things done, caring less about who got the credit, and I made a promise that such a principle would be my guiding light,” he said.
Upton served in Congress for more than 30 years and was set to face Trump-backed Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI-02) in Michigan’s newly-drawn 4th Congressional District.
Notably, Representatives Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH-16), John Katko (R-NY-24) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL-16) also voted to impeach Trump, and have also announced their retirements from Congress.
Upton’s retirement comes on the heels of a Yahoo! report that made a list of Trump’s enemies.
Representative Tom Rice (R-SC-07), another Trump impeacher, is on the list.
But Rice didn’t back down. In fact, he doubled down on his Trump criticism.
“Trump demands absolute loyalty,” Rice said. “That’s what he’s about. He’s driven by power and he’s driven by revenge. Of anybody I’ve ever met, he’s probably the most spiteful, vengeful person I’ve ever met.
Others on the “enemies list” include Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R). They found themselves on Trump’s bad side after what the former president perceived as a slight after the 2020 election.
Trump made claims that Georgia, which he only lost by a slight margin to President Joe Biden, was a hotbed for election fraud, and that Kemp and Raffensperger did not do enough to investigate that claim.
Indeed, some election laws appear to have been broken, the consequences for which punishments were never applied.
Trump has endorsed former Senator David Perdue (R) to replace Kemp, and Representative Jody Hice (R-GA-15) to replace Raffensperger.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Donald Trump” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0. Background Photo “U.S. Capitol” by Martin Falbisoner. CC BY-SA 3.0.
